A Greenpeace protester from Bristol who occupied the offices of an energy company dressed as a polar bear has been found not guilty of committing a breach of the peace. The local activist was cleared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after Sheriff Roderick MacLeod ruled prosecutors had not proved she acted illegally.
The protester was in a group of more than 50 Greenpeace activists who raided Cairn Energy's offices. The incident occurred at the company's Edinburgh headquarters in July. The activists occupied the building because they objected to Cairn's plans to drill for oil off the coast of Greenland.
The Greenpeace volunteer was arrested and charged with placing Cairn Energy staff in a state of fear and alarm with her actions. At the start of the trial, the court heard from a police officer who said protesters sang Bear Necessities from family musical The Jungle Book during the occupation. He said they had "great fun".
In finding Ms Smith not guilty, Sheriff MacLeod said he accepted the environmentalists were not acting in a threatening fashion. He said: "I'm not prepared to hold that people who have entered a building dressed in unusual costumes constitutes threatening behaviour. I don't believe that behaviour constitutes a threat in itself."
Sheriff MacLeod added: "The protesters were anxious not to place anybody under a state of fear and alarm. I therefore feel that I must return a verdict of not guilty."
The charges against the other Greenpeace activists have been subsequently dropped.
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